The writers of "A Quiet Place" are back, this time with the blessing of torture porn artiste "Eli Roth." unlike their previous outing, they arent trying to reinvent any wheels, or push any boundaries. All theyre interested in doing is scaring the hell out of their audience. For the most part, they succeed.
Harper and Bailey are roommates and friends. Harper is nursing a fresh bruise from her abusive boyfriend, so Bailey persuades her to avoid him, and join her for a Halloween night out. The friends all gather at a club but, soon enough, one obnoxious guy has decided it's lame and time to hit a haunted house up. You'd think young adults would know by now that when a silent clown requests your handheld device, something is not right (in their defense, they do sign disclaimers first: scam artists truly are upping their games everywhere). Soon enough, a descent into madness and torture begins as the group is stalked by a witch, Satan a ghost and a madman with a chainsaw.
"Haunt" succeeds in the beginning and up until the final bloodletting, it doesn't let up. The biggest thrill here is the writers' ability to test your nerves, with moments of ambiguity, dangling hope at all times that none of this is Actually real. As the group move from situation to situation, with all sorts of horror scenarios playing out like the best sort of candy haul after a night of guising, you are right there with them as they panic, reassure themselves and try to outwit the monsters they may be trapped with.
The film, unfortunately, loses momentum as it switches gears in the final reel but for the first two thirds, it manages to unsettle in a way Tobe Hooper or Rob Zombie would be proud of. The villains are all startling in their own rights, masked and unmasked, and their little traps and tricks are simultaneously horrific, dastardly and fun to watch. A subplot about domestic abuse and the wicked web it weaves is never developed far enough for the pay off, coming across more as a deus ex machina than a true character exploration. However, by splitting up the two heroines Early on, and giving equal time to both during the early stages, it's never certain just who the "final" girl will be, creating a source of tension whenever either finds themselves in peril.
After a few years of directors taking horror, and themselves, too seriously, it's so nice to just see a horrific haunted house flick in the style of Hooper, Zombie or Wingard. It's fast, it's scary, it's brutal, it's satisfying.
Harper and Bailey are roommates and friends. Harper is nursing a fresh bruise from her abusive boyfriend, so Bailey persuades her to avoid him, and join her for a Halloween night out. The friends all gather at a club but, soon enough, one obnoxious guy has decided it's lame and time to hit a haunted house up. You'd think young adults would know by now that when a silent clown requests your handheld device, something is not right (in their defense, they do sign disclaimers first: scam artists truly are upping their games everywhere). Soon enough, a descent into madness and torture begins as the group is stalked by a witch, Satan a ghost and a madman with a chainsaw.
"Haunt" succeeds in the beginning and up until the final bloodletting, it doesn't let up. The biggest thrill here is the writers' ability to test your nerves, with moments of ambiguity, dangling hope at all times that none of this is Actually real. As the group move from situation to situation, with all sorts of horror scenarios playing out like the best sort of candy haul after a night of guising, you are right there with them as they panic, reassure themselves and try to outwit the monsters they may be trapped with.
The film, unfortunately, loses momentum as it switches gears in the final reel but for the first two thirds, it manages to unsettle in a way Tobe Hooper or Rob Zombie would be proud of. The villains are all startling in their own rights, masked and unmasked, and their little traps and tricks are simultaneously horrific, dastardly and fun to watch. A subplot about domestic abuse and the wicked web it weaves is never developed far enough for the pay off, coming across more as a deus ex machina than a true character exploration. However, by splitting up the two heroines Early on, and giving equal time to both during the early stages, it's never certain just who the "final" girl will be, creating a source of tension whenever either finds themselves in peril.
After a few years of directors taking horror, and themselves, too seriously, it's so nice to just see a horrific haunted house flick in the style of Hooper, Zombie or Wingard. It's fast, it's scary, it's brutal, it's satisfying.